Consequences of Our Actions
by shipper55
Summary: In Terra Nova, what will be the consequences of the Lieutenant and Commander's actions and how will it impact on the rest of the colony? How will they survive with the impending madness about to hit?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Guys, this is my first FF, so all reviews, praise and critiscisms will be appreciated. This is my first story for the BAMFs and I hit 20K last night so I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of it! A big shout-out to all the Wash/Taylor writers, you all write some amazing stuff and keep my life going. Counted yesterday, and I checked my emails 27 waiting for alerts! Thanks to everyone and to Rebecca, my online bestie, I am sorry this isn't KD, but soon enough! **

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><p>"Wash."<p>

"Reynolds."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You already have."

"Wash."

"Sorry, fire away."

Lieutenant Alicia Washington was on the morning patrol with one of her previous trainees, Mark Reynolds. Sitting atop the lookout positioned at the gates entrance, they were alert but both were tired. They had already been here for almost their entire five-hour shift. She was bored and waiting for action, which very rarely occurred, particularly at this hour.

"Are you ever going to settle down?"

"What do you mean?" The question surprised her, she tried not to let it show on her face, nothing was supposed to surprise her.

"As in, find someone, have a house that kind of thing." Reynolds said sheepishly

"Do I look like the domestic kind of woman to you Reynolds?"

"No, I just meant... Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Um, no not really. I haven't thought it about per se, but I guess I kind of just imagine myself doing this" Alicia admitted, having truthfully not thought about her future here at Terra Nova.

"But you can't do this forever, one day you will want to retire, and I think you would want, you know someone to come home to... I guess"

"The Commander is still doing it, what's stopping me?"

"Wash. Did you ever dream of settling down? Realistically you can't do this forever. I know if you could you would be out here fighting the Sixers and the dinosaurs all day long..."

"Sure I had that dream, but now I have this job. I want to take care Terra Nova, and give it the right start."

"Wash, that's great. But come on, when you're off duty what do you do? You are either sleeping or eating? You can't live like this forever, you have to live your life and not chase your life away like the dinosaurs," Reynolds said very brazenly. Usually anyone that tried to breach more sensitive topics with Wash, well... no one really did it. They knew the consequences would not be good. But the relationship she had with Mark was an exception to that, so she let it slide.

"What do you want me to do Reynolds? Quit, start work as a medic and start dating some poor man who couldn't deal with me? I would be restless the entire time! I can't just leave this job, it's my life and I can live with that," Alicia said before looking at her watch.

"We're finished here Reynolds, shift's over." Alicia said with more anger than intended, turning to leave.

"Wash, please." Reynolds said as he caught her arm, turning her to face him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I just... Care about you. You know? I wasn't trying to imply anything, I was just curious. I also wanted to know if you... You know were thinking about it."

"Thinking about settling down."

"Yeah."

"As in with someone?"

"Uh yeah I would assume so."

"No I haven't been thinking about it. To be honest with you Reynolds, I can't think of to many people who would want to put up with all this." Alicia said as she motioned towards herself, admitting something she hadn't before.

"Wash…" she interrupted him before he could say anything in dispute of her words.

"No it's okay Reynolds, I'm fine. I love my job and that's all I need." Alicia said truthfully. "Speaking of relationships, how's Maddy?"

"Uh, um, yeah she's good." Reynolds said as the heat rose to his cheeks.

"So the courting is going successfully?" Alicia asked with a big smile on her face, deciding to tease him for that bit longer.

"Sure, I guess you could say that"

"Well the shift is over, go take her out for lunch or something"

"Yes ma'am." Reynolds said, really only adding the formality for the sake of it.

"Dismissed soldier" she said with a nod of the head and he was heading down the stairs.

She turned back to the view of outside the gates, glad she had someone like Reynolds in her life. Although they had arrived on different pilgrimages, they had grown close. They were just like brother and sister; she appreciated him especially because he put up with her. Alicia had trained him hard, but only because she believed in him. Although he disliked her originally, once he got to know her and how she expressed her emotions he was more open to her. He was one of her best students, and they had grown close over time as she pushed him physically to his best and he pushed her to open up and relax more.

Although Alicia had finished her shift with Reynolds, all five hours, she felt... Unused. She wanted to be out there and chasing Sixers and dinosaurs, but she knew well enough the day would come soon enough and that she would be ready.

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><p>"Wash."<p>

"Sir." Alicia replied to her commander, who when she looked over from her position on the deck of the command centre, was walking from inside his office to stand next to her, leaning on the rails.

"Are you happy here?" asked her CO, yet another surprising question.

"What? Is today 'psychoanalyze Alicia' day?" said in reply, with very clear impatience in her voice. He looked at her, slightly shocked at the reply.

"No, not that I'm aware of. I was merely wondering how my lieutenant was finding her time at Terra Nova."

"Sorry sir, Reynolds was questioning me on my future this morning. It's been a long day." Her commander nodded in reply. She paused for a minute, thinking through her answer.

"Here I get to do a job I love, with people I have great respect and admiration for and I get to protect people who are worth saving. We have a second chance at life, and I get to help give it the right start. I get to train men and help turn them into brave and honest soldiers who I know will protect this world the right way. I get to watch our civilization progress and grow. I am happy." Alicia spoke, with meaning to her words.

"There's nowhere else you want to be? Another job? Different people? Different time?" The Commander asked in reply.

"No, I don't think there is. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm grateful to be here. Protecting people has been my job for as long as I can remember, and now I'm protecting something I believe in and want to work for. I get to work with some truly amazing and respectable people. And another time? I don't think I would want to be anywhere else. We get the technology of the future and the unpolluted world of the past, the best of both worlds. I have everything I could ever I want," She said finally.

"Good answer Wash." Taylor said as he looked at Terra Nova below them.

"Thank-you sir." She said as she put her hands behind her back and leaned on the rails.

"Do you ever think about having a family?" The Commander said, asking a question that only he could ask as if he was asking her what her favorite fruit was.

"To be honest, not really. I can't think of to many people who would be able to deal with all this, or willing" Alicia said, suddenly wondering why she had said it to him.

"Alicia..." The Commander warned, a very serious tone to his voice as he turned to face her - she was still staring at Terra Nova. She couldn't face him now.

"Believe me you're worth it Wash, anyone that can rope you in is a lucky man" The Commander replied before leaving her to his words. Standing there, once again, surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello to all BAMF lovers around the world, hope everyone is still alive after that promo! I have to be honest, I shed quite a few tears and may or may not have broken down with my sister. Hoping for some sort of early Christmas miracle for Wash - by the way nothing is official, I have simply given up all hope, this is not a spoiler.**

**Quick thank-you to those who wrote reviews, they officially made my week and all the other people who took the time to read this story - I love you dearly. Here is a bit of a cliff-hanger for you, the third chapter will be up soon. Big, massive, BAMF sized thank-you to the amazing Zoe6 for not only writing some of the greatest FF I have ever read, but taking time out of her busy schedule to beta for me. She is truly amazing and I don't know what I'd without her! Read on and enjoy fellow Terra Novians ;)**

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><p>She was standing in the Commander's office, Jim Shannon was sitting down next to her and the Commander was sitting across from the two of them. They had been informed that someone was sneaking outside the gates at regular intervals including tonight; at midnight their Sixer spy would be on the move. For the moment, the Commander, Shannon and herself were working out arrangements for the night.<p>

"The three of us go, Guzman is very capable of taking charge, and if we leave at midnight we shouldn't be missed. The Sixers won't be making a move, as they need to be meeting our informant so we can afford for the three of us to go. We need to watch each other's back and numbers always stand for something. We'll meet at the exit point at 2330 hours get in position and try and get a good view of the informant. After that we follow behind, but I will not be leaving that forest until we see the Sixers, so be prepared for an attack by them or our other friendly neighbors.

"We should be back far enough that we don't get caught up as well. As soon as we catch sight of whom he's meeting, we're out of there. We have to take all precautions tonight. Shannon pick up one of our armored suits, tell Elisabeth you'll be back safe and sound by sunrise at the latest. Lieutenant gear up." The Commander spoke with all confidence. Alicia nodded and left for her house, mentally preparing herself for the night.

After her conversations with both Reynolds and Taylor yesterday, she wondered if her process of preparation would be any different if there was someone who she would be saying goodbye to like Shannon did with his wife and kids. She avoided thinking about it for too long, her job was her life. Second-guessing didn't allow for second chances.

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><p>Alicia was at the aforementioned part of the surrounding gate at 2330 hours on the dot. She was armored up and had the appropriate weapons to protect her from both Sixers and dinosaurs. The Commander arrived seconds later, a nod passed between the two and once again when Shannon arrived only a minute later. They waited crouched behind a conveniently placed shed. Half an hour later, the sound of boots crunching on the ground could be heard and the three of them looked back and forth between each other, before looking back to the man in question.<p>

The informant was looking mostly to his left, and Alicia and the others were on his right. She was trying to place the spy, by looking alone at his figure. He was well built and tall, with black hair on his head. Alicia was then hit with recognition - he was the engineer who had been working on the rover that she had driven only weeks ago, the rover which had almost died while she was OTG. He had been friendly, even flirting with her slightly. But she had been resistant and Alicia was happy with the fact that she had made the decision to ignore his flirting.

The offender's name was Nelson Saunders and he had arrived on the seventh pilgrimage; he now had his head looking over to where she was hiding with Taylor and Shannon. They all slid back, looking at each other, nodding that they had recognized who he was. After staying in position for a minute they heard Nelson as he started pushing through the trees outside the gate. Waiting for one minute, Taylor led the way from the shed to outside the gate. Jim was second and Alicia pulled up at the back. Alicia could still hear the occasional snap of a branch, and she was pretty sure Taylor could still see Nelson while she covered the group.

They had been walking for about an hour before the Commander held up his left hand. They stopped and listened for Nelson. They crouched down and Alicia could now see Nelson, who was just in sight ahead of them. She did a quick sweep of the area behind them, which was all clear. Nelson was still stopped and then she heard what had made him pause in his tracks. A growl came from before them and she could hear the dinosaurs' steps as it came into her hearing range and closer to Nelson. Nelson had frozen at this point, with no gun and no protection there weren't a lot of options that he did have. She raised her gun, waiting for the signal from the Commander; whether they would help out Saunders or leave him to his death. Alicia had been trained to never leave a man behind, but she would follow her commanding officer's instructions whatever he chose to do. As the dinosaur got closer, she saw it come into the picture, a velociraptor. The dinosaur was gaining on Nelson and he was still frozen and before long they were going to be too late. She could see Jim staring bouncing on his feet and he knew as well as she did that Taylor had to make a decision.

Sure enough, he turned to the two of them with his decision. "I'm going up front to draw the attention away, Shannon's to come in from the side and pick up Nelson and Wash you come around the back, give the velociraptor a blast once Shannon's clear."

"Sir, you'll still be in front of him though." Wash argued, with a thread of worry in her voice.

"Don't worry Wash, I'll be out of the way." Taylor said, nodding at his second in command. He put two fingers together and motioned for them to move, the Commander moving along Nelson's path while both Wash and Shannon were on his right, a little faster.

Shannon stopped when he was parallel to Nelson, and Alicia could see Taylor gaining, his gun ready to blast. She knew he wouldn't, Saunders was right in the line of fire. The dinosaur was picking up his pace and the engineer was still as ever. She ran further until she was right behind the dinosaur; she nodded to Jim who nodded to Taylor. The dinosaur was now almost on Nelson, with Wash following. She saw Jim make his run and the dinosaur's attention turn to him, but the Commander was on it as he started jumping and yelling insults at it. Jim was now out of the way with Nelson, both collapsed to the ground.

The dinosaur was charging at Commander Taylor and she knew she had to stop it. Alicia pulled the trigger and shot it, but instead of a shot emerging there was a puff of smoke. Taylor was still leading the dinosaur away, and Alicia was not going to let the dinosaur catch him but she had no idea what to do. At that exact moment she remembered the Commander telling her during their time in Somalia, her first outing with his squad, that extreme situations called for extreme measures.


	3. Chapter 3

**My sincerest apologies for the delay in updating, life has been crazy and I am also very lazy (hehe that rhymed). Don't worry good old karma got back at me with not only THAT preview of TN and a lack of BAMF-flavoured FFs. So in thanks for being patient and loyal, I promise to upload the next chapter in two days and if you are really good and show your support for the story, you might just get one two days after that as an early christmas present! I have just realised that what I thought were really long chapters, are very short, so I shall try and bump up the word count for you! Once again a big thanks to Zoe6, who knows exactly what I want to say when I make no sense and always makes it sounds so much better. Thank-you for everything.**

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><p>Alicia watched as the dinosaur continued gaining on her commander and decided it was enough. In an act of what could be classed as both stupidity and bravery she started to yell at the dinosaur and stomp her feet in a very similar fashion to Taylor. The dinosaur slowly started to turn its attention to her, craning its neck around. She continued to stomp and yell to the dinosaur about just how yummy she would be and the dinosaur slowly picked up the pace.<p>

Alicia saw through the dinosaurs' legs just how angry Taylor he was. She was pleased with herself for successfully scaring the dinosaur away, but then Taylor shook his head. She watched as he mouthed 'oh no you don't!' and started jumping and yelling with more passion than before. To top it off, he threw his own sonic pistol to the ground; completely taking it's attention away from her.

Alicia stomped her foot out if frustration before looking at her very own gun. In an act of desperation Alicia threw her gun at the dinosaur, the gun hitting the back of the dinosaur's head exactly where she had aimed for it to hit. The dinosaur then turned around to face her just like she wanted it to before, but now she had its undivided attention and could see it had had enough of their games. She jumped out of the way, the velociraptor's front legs caught her own and gave her the push to where Shannon was. The claws caught the back of her legs and dragged along the length of them, causing two big lacerations. Luckily the Commander was on to her diversion and managed to shoot the dinosaur several times before it went running back into the jungle.

She was now lying on her stomach on the jungle floor. A few meters from Shannon, who had now placed Nelson Saunders in cuffs. Alicia could clearly feel the heat and sting of her injuries. Like only she could, she tried to get up, but the dinosaur had cut above her knees and she couldn't move them at all. She tried to push out with her arms, but her legs wouldn't respond, they were screaming at her. Taylor was now by her side, kneeling down and Shannon was standing with Nelson next to him.

"Wash." It was all he could say. She saw his face, tried to get up again, and she watched him while he watched her struggle. She collapsed again.

"I ... I can't get up. My legs won't move." She spoke with pain coursing through her voice and on her face, finally admitting defeat - something that Wash always struggled to accept.

She was still facing the ground with her hands splayed on the muddy floor when she heard the commander ask for Shannon to pass his water over. Before long he was pulling away the ripped pants so he could get to her wounds. She heard him open the bottle and he started to pour it over her left leg, and then again on her right. The sting was almost unbearable; it took all she had not to yell out in pain. Taylor then asked Saunders to take off his jumper as soon as he was confident that he had cleaned out her wounds. She would have said something about how Saunders would freeze, but decided she didn't care. Taylor wrapped it tightly around her right leg where two deep and strong bleeding cuts ran along her leg and continued onto her left leg and she grimaced further and clawed into the ground. Taylor then told Saunders to go and take off his other jumper - she was certain that he was now no longer going to be able survive the hour walk back. But when she felt the article of clothing in question tie around her other leg all thoughts were lost to her as she felt the intense white-hot pain.

Taylor finished the makeshift bandaging and put his hands on her waist, turning over so she was facing him. He could see her face now in the moonlight, the fighting emotions clear. He gently slid his left arm just under her shoulders and his right very carefully underneath her knees and the jumpers. Alicia hissed in pain, Taylor moved his arm to the other side and brought her up to his chest. The pain winning out on her face, Alicia could no longer care about masking it, it hurt so damn much. She put her arms around Taylor's neck and nestled her head in his shoulder, giving in absolutely as the pain overwhelmed her. Usually Alicia would refuse to be put in a situation where she was looked upon as weak, but her state of mind and any worry of her public image had been thrown out the window when her legs had been lacerated. She could feel Taylor tense slightly in reaction to her defeated action and he turned to Shannon.

"We have to get her out of here, now. Lead the way Shannon, and Nelson, believe me you will wish that dinosaur ate you when I'm finished with you." The Commander sternly ordered. Shannon got a good grip on Saunders' handcuffs and lead the way back to Terra Nova.

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><p>"Washington. Wash. Wash. Wash!" The sound of her commanding officer yelling at her woke Alicia from her slumber. Alicia was in his arms and they were in the jungle. It took her a minute to remember it all - specifically her legs. She hissed in pain as she felt the throbbing and sting of the cuts. Taylor looked down at her.<p>

"Uh uh Wash, you will stay conscious the whole walk back thank-you. If I have to carry you, the least you can do is keep me company." He said with a chuckle.

"How long have we been walking? How long have I been out?" She asked in response, having no genuine idea of either.

"We've been walking about ten minutes and you passed out about a minute ago. You put up a damn good fight too Wash. But now you have to stay awake." Taylor said matter-of-factly.

"Fine." Alicia said unhappily, wiggling into a new position, trying as hard as possible not to bring Taylor's arm closer to her cuts. She pushed herself up, Taylor loosening his grip to help adjust.

"Comfortable?" Taylor asked.

"In relative terms sir."

Wash looked forward to see Shannon leading with Nelson, who was hanging his head low in a regretful manner. So he was going to try that kind of bull. _Just__wait__till__the__commander__gets__to__you_. Alicia thought about when she would have a chance with Nelson, then again she would have to be able to walk first. She grimaced further and turned back to Taylor.

A worried look passed over his face, and she felt responsible. If she had checked that her gun was working then maybe they wouldn't be in this situation. Then the commander wouldn't have to carry her for an hour.

"I can probably walk now, Commander." Alicia spoke, looking into his face for his reaction. He started smiling.

"You know you were doing a good job, admitting to the pain and accepting my help. But Wash, come on. Even you can't recover from this one that quickly. Nice try, but time to admit defeat." Taylor said still smiling and it got bigger as he saw the grimace on Alicia's face.

"Stop acting like a child Wash, let someone else take care of you for a minute." He said slightly more serious this time, no longer looking at her but straight ahead. Alicia was that close to harrumphing, but decided it wasn't going to do her any favors and stayed silent.

"Are you happy here, Commander?" Wash asked, realizing she hadn't reciprocated the question he had asked her earlier.

"I think you said it about right before, but I'll have a go. For a long time when I was younger, my happiness was based on my success but I learnt my lesson very quickly and most certainly the hard way. I've learnt that it depends on you, the people who around you. There were moments in Somalia, when you could have lost all hope and the soldiers would bring you back in with a games of cards and stories that would stay with you for your life. Even being here on my own and realizing that we would be able to make it work, seeing everyone walk through the gates prepared to start again and work hard. Those moments of happiness; beating you in a fight, even though it's always not by much," This brought a smile from Alicia.

"Watching Terra Nova grow and learn from our mistakes. Seeing everyone work to make it right this time round. Seeing our soldiers enjoy each other's company even if their lives are in danger. That's what makes me happy. The people I'm with and where we are. This new life. We've both faced our hardships, and now we have the chance to get life right, start Terra Nova the correct way and set it up for our future. That's what makes me happy Wash." The Commander spoke with a confidence that Alicia had always envied. It was what made him so charming and it explained a lot about why he was Commander.

"Well said sir." Alicia said with a small smile, looking up at him.

"Thank-you Wash." He answered looking down at her, their eyes meeting, very intensely. His blue eyes bored into hers, her dark eyes staring straight back. The emotions in both their faces started to brim to the top, they could see it in each other's eyes. Emotions that may not be ready to be faced by either of them, that they had skillfully avoided for some time.

"Commander, we should be about half an hour away now. Are you okay with carrying Washington or do you want to swap?" Shannon interrupted the moment and it was broken.

"I think I'll hold on to Wash for now, but nice work Shannon." Taylor replied, Alicia was looking into the jungle, guessing it was about two in the morning. Would it be too early to get Elisabeth up? Her legs were really hurting now; she was surprised that the Commander couldn't feel the throbbing.

"How you doing there Wash?" Taylor asked, clearly worried.

"Sir, to be perfectly honest it hurts a lot, but I've had worse." Wash replied.

"Always toning it down, come on those are some nasty lacerations you got there. At least show them off!" He said with another smile on his face, even Alicia couldn't hold back a smile of her own.

After a few minutes silence, Taylor broke the silence. "Why did you throw your gun at the velociraptor?"

"I couldn't shoot it because it was broken. I wasn't going to let it get to you."

"But I would have shot it eventually."

"Exactly, eventually, anyway the dinosaur would have trampled all over me if you had shot him and I really didn't want that to happen. Trampled by a dinosaur was not what I was thinking of for when going out." She smiled to herself before looking to Taylor who was looking troubled.

"Come on sir, tell me if we swapped positions what would you have done differently?" Alicia challenged her CO. He thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I... You got me there Wash," He said, shaking his head in defeat. He knew he would have done the exact same thing if it had been him watching Alicia get chased by the dinosaur, and she knew that too. Alicia smiled, knowing she was off the hook. Well, for now anyway.

Although their position was unusual, she was quite content with being in Taylor's arms. Alicia yawned, and nestled her head into his shoulder whilst readjusting her arms, she was getting particularly drowsy again.

Yes it was an odd position for the both of them, but she was tired, sore and comfy and the Commander wasn't complaining yet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank-you to everyone for reading and being so supportive, it means the world to me. To Zoe6 once again, you are amazing and I would be lost without you, thank-you for your support and astonishing editing powers. This chapter is meatier and is leading the way for other longer chapters, so enjoy!**

**- That was a pre-written message and this is the updated one - my life is over. But i got three re-tweets and a reply from S.K. so good healing start. Also to anyone who has not posted a deathfic but instead a great fix it, I love you with all my heart. Anyone who wrote deathfics, I love you too, but you make me cry more. **

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><p>"Wash?"<p>

"Mmmmm." Alicia mumbled, keeping her eyes shut.

"We're at the gates." The Commander pointed out.

"And?" She said nestling her head back into Taylor's shoulder. Wait... Taylor's shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up to see him staring at her.

"Morning Wash." He said with a smile, although the sun was not even preparing to make its entrance. She looked around for a bit before she felt the stabs of pain from her legs. She started to grimace and started to wiggle around in Taylor's arms.

"Wash?" He asked clearly worried.

"The pain just got me sir." She replied, closing her eyes again, hoping the pain would wash over. Once it didn't she opened her eyes and Taylor was still staring down at her.

"I'm sorry Wash, we can't open the main gate, as it would wreck the whole operation. Our best plan of action is what we did before, straight through the hole in the fence Saunders found. I can't get both of us through the fence holding you. Shannon and Saunders will go first and then I'll pass you through to Shannon and come in after and pick you back up." She nodded in response.

She gripped the Commander harder as he started to let her legs extend, a notable hiss left Alicia's lips as her legs were forced to move. It hurt so much that it almost _didn't_ hurt. It was stinging like crazy and throbbing and she was surprised her legs hadn't outright fallen off. She planted her feet carefully onto the jungle floor, hesitating once she started having to put her weight on it. She was still holding him in a death grip, she felt the need to be embarrassed but a lack of emotions had stepped in.

The Commander had his hands on her waist keeping her steady. She started to loosen her grip on him and instead focused on getting through the gate. She hooked both arms around the pole parallel to her shoulders; the Commander pulled her legs up and slid them through to Shannon. She released the pole and went under, to be caught by Shannon as her legs faltered. He eased Alicia so her bum was leaning on part of the gate and she was now using her arms to get a grip on Shannon's shoulders. Before she could even contemplate getting comfy, the Commander was inside the gate and already slipping his arms around her.

He pulled her to his chest and she started to feel faint - the moving hadn't done her any good and she was just so comfortable in his arms.

"Wash, you need to stay awake. Dammit Wash!" She heard Taylor yelling at her in the background but she closed her eyes, regardless of his protests.

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><p>"Alicia. Alicia. Alicia. Time to wake up."<p>

Alicia felt the need to groan and slip a pillow over her head before she realised it was Dr Shannon talking to her. She slowly remembered the morning's events; Saunders, the dinosaur, all of it. The cuts in her legs also became apparent. She felt that her armour had been stripped away and she was left in the tank top she wore underneath. Her cargo pants had been cut so they were the length of shorts. Although not her usual attire, there was not a lot she could do.

"I'm not one to complain but I've been here for two hours and I had to wake up at 2.30 to perform surgery on you. The least you can do is wake up and converse, the Commander and I are slightly bored of waiting for. The colony needs you, and it won't be any good if you decide to lie here all day." Still being berated by the doctor, Washington opened her eyes to the floor. She was lying face down on a physio's chair, obviously used to make surgery on legs easier to perform. She could still feel an awful throb in her legs, but they were certainly better than only hours before.

"I'm here Doc. Sorry for waking you up." Alicia called out, not sure what else to do. She pulled her arms up, bracing to pull herself up before a firm hand laid itself on her back.

"Not so quickly Wash. These lacerations are much too serious for you to be sitting on them." Taylor explained.

"Can't I even stand up?" She sounded like a whiny teenager and decided that she the drugs used to numb her during surgery were getting to her.

"Wash stay down. That's an order." Taylor said with a bit more feeling.

"I'm sorry Alicia, but the Commander is right. These cuts are deep and long. They've covered a good proportion of your thighs and they only really just missed your muscles but there was a lot of blood loss. You were lucky you got here when you did. I've stitched them up, there are over 10 on both legs, and you're very lucky to have survived the attack Alicia. But you're going to be out of action for a while, maybe three weeks and that's with our technology. I'll do my very best to get you back into working order as soon as possible but I'll need your full cooperation." Dr Shannon explained. Alicia was struggling with not being able to see her - she was controlling in that way but from the doctor's words she was going to have to get used to it.

"You hear that Wash, full cooperation." The Commander repeated, just for her. She could hear the smile in his voice. "I want you back in action soon, so no messing around."

"Alicia, there's not a lot more I can do for you here. I've stitched and bandaged your legs up. You're going to have to see me twice a day, morning and night so I can change over your bandages. I'll come to your house tonight and tomorrow morning, I don't expect you to even attempt walking for two days at the earliest. Your legs have already begun the process of healing, so hopefully walking here can act as a form of rehabilitation, once you are able to. You're welcome to spend the day here on the chair, otherwise, seeing how early it is I'd be happy to set you up at your home?" The doctor kindly offered to Alicia, who was still feeling bad about waking her up.

"I'm sorry to be a pain - as comfy as this seat is, I'd really love to be in bed instead. If it's a hassle..." She said, still unbelieving that she was asking more of Dr Shannon.

"Alicia, please it's fine. After everything you do for the colony, this is the least I can do. The only problem is getting you there, I would usually say a wheelchair but that would leave you sitting straight on your injuries. I could also suggest crutches but that's also a very half-hearted attempt at getting you there..." The doctor trailed off, unsure of how to do deal with the situation.

"What about if I carried her? Not perfect, but I think it's probably the best I can come up with," Taylor provided, breaking his silence.

"Hmm, Alicia I think that's probably our best option. I'm going to go collect some things, I should be back by the time you're up." The doctor agreed and Alicia heard her footsteps move away from her chair.

"How do you want to do this Wash?"

"I just want to get up. Let's see how we go from there."

Alicia paused for moment working out the best strategy, deciding that she was going to have to sit up on her knees and let herself be picked up by Taylor that way. Although it wasn't entirely sitting with Alicia, this option appeared to be the one, which would cause her the least pain.

She put her hands out in front of her, gently lifting her body up; she could feel Taylor's presence beside her. She was now on her knees with both hands extended in front of her, gripping on to the head of the chair. Her legs were throbbing forcefully now. She didn't want to move, luckily Taylor could read her expressions and grabbed both her arms thus allowing her to put her weight on him as she lifted herself up so she was sitting back on her knees.

Her legs were screaming from the effort and Alicia couldn't hold back the frown and closing of her eyes as she moved into position. She was leaning heavily on his arms now, staying still just to give her legs a minute to regroup and for her to grow accustomed to the pain. She opened her eyes and Taylor was staring right back at her, worry expressed all over his face. She released the clutch she had on his arms and this gesture told him she was ready. He went around so he was standing to her right side, placing one arm on her back and the other gently on her calf. She very slowly, to put it simply, fell into him. She scowled again when she landed in his arms but she was up.

"Wash?"

"I've been better sir, but I'll feel even better once I'm in bed." She admitted to him, looking into his eyes. He stared straight back, a fleet of emotions crossing his face. Her brown eyes met blue, and for just a moment the pain in her legs ceased while she looked at him.

"I think I have everything here - well I don't know what more I could take to be honest." The doctor said, as once again another Shannon interrupted a moment between Alicia and her commander.

"I'm sure you have plenty Elisabeth. Are we ready to go?" Taylor asked. Alicia nodded and so did Elisabeth, the doctor took the lead out of the hospital and Taylor followed with Alicia in his arms. The sun had not yet begun to rise; the sky was only the slightest bit lighter. No one was out, lights were out in all the houses and they only had the dim street-lamps to help them through the dark.

It was a relatively short walk to Alicia's house, and she was glad for it. She was enjoying the feeling of being in Taylor's arms, probably too much. She tried to swat the butterflies in her stomach away, but his strong arms around her held them in.

They reached her house; neither Taylor nor Alicia had looked at each other after Dr Shannon had interrupted their moment. Dr Shannon put down her bag, which seemed to be teeming with bits and pieces, and looked to Alicia for the key.

"Pot plant." She replied to the unasked question not looking at Taylor, knowing he would hate that she hid her spare key in such a ... mundane hiding spot.

"That's really not a very good hiding place Wash. Have you not learnt anything?" Taylor said with a grin, causing Alicia to smile as well. Even Elisabeth smiled before turning to the pot plant, and digging around for just a moment before retrieving the key. Unlocking the door and putting the key back, Alicia watched as the doctor picked her bag back up and went into the house. Taylor walked forward and followed her into the house, kicking the door shut on his way in.

To Alicia, the house was normal. But she saw the slightly shocked face on Dr Shannon, though not on Taylor. She had no real personal belongings; she had no pictures or any other personal artefacts that the eye could see. She had only a few meaningful bits and pieces that were safely hidden away. She had not left a mark on the house; to her it was where she rested and no more. Everything was neat and tidy; she did not spend much time at the house and always cleaned up well afterwards. The Commander understood this; he too had a very bare and clean house with only the essentials. Alicia wasn't sure if it was the military in her or a form of denying the past, either way she was happy with the arrangement. She noticed that the doctor was looking around, not familiar with the layout of Alicia's house.

"Turn right, bedroom is first on the right and bathroom is second on the left." Alicia guided Elisabeth, who continued to lead the way and turned into her bedroom. It was once again spotless, most people would not even realise someone was living in the apartment the way she kept it in order.

The doctor dropped her bag on the side of the bed closest to the door and pulled out a pillow, but not the average feather one. This pillow was full of a blue gel, which was changing shape when touched. Dr Shannon lifted Alicia's duvet and sheet from the untouched side of the bed. The doctor looked up at Alicia, glancing up and down her body and looked back to the bed, placing the pillow on the bed where she guessed Alicia would be placing her injuries when lying down. Elisabeth went back to the bag and pulled out a phone and placed it on the bedside table, along with several cartons that contained painkillers and a bottle of water. The doctor also placed three books on her bedside table. She pointed to each one in turn.

"This one here is a crime/action thriller, this is a great sci-fi book and this last one is a classic romance. I'm not really sure if you're a book person, but whenever Maddy or I are sick, these keep us company and provide a good distraction. I hope it can do the same for you." Alicia nodded in acknowledgement, too tired to say anything. Her eyes were drooping and she saw the doctor look at her and sigh. She got her bag together, and left with a final message.

"It's going to be difficult to stop your leg from hurting, it's a very inconvenient spot to have injuries. This pillow should hopefully cool it down and be nice and gentle on your leg. Commander if you are to lay her legs straight onto it she should be okay for the day. I'll check in tonight, but if you need anything the phone I have left has my number at the hospital and I will be with you as soon as possible. You won't be able to take any more painkillers for at least another five hours, but you should really be focusing on sleeping and resting for the moment. I'll leave you to it Alicia, and please for the sake of the colony don't try and do anything." She said with a small smile before making her way out.

Alicia looked up at her commander, who was looking back at her. "That doctor, you better watch out Wash, I wouldn't want to cross her. We had better get you to bed Wash, it's a bit too early to be disobeying doctor's orders." Taylor said, still smiling and joking around. He walked around to the side of the bed with the pillow. Very slowly he lowered his arms that held Alicia, aligning her body with the gel pillow. He laid her torso down first, before very slowly lying her legs down on the pillow. This time Alicia was face up, and even the gel pillow couldn't erase the pain. She held it in, deciding she had showed enough emotion in the last few hours to cover her for a lifetime. Instead she bit her bottom lip, hard, though not hard enough to break skin.

"Wash? All good?" Taylor asked, even though she knew he knew the answer. Not a lot could change in a few hours, especially after the two-hour surgery.

"I'll get there sir." She replied as Taylor pulled the duvet up to her.

"I know you will Wash. I know you will," He said, holding onto the duvet and looking into her eyes "Take care of yourself Wash. Please." He said as he pulled it up to her, still staring straight into her eyes.

He leaned back from the bed thus stopping the moment from going anywhere, "I'll send Reynolds here in a couple of hours but you need to sleep. If you need anything..."

"You'll be the first to know." She said with a lazy smile, her sleep wave and the drowsiness of the drugs had caught up. She adjusted the covers around her arms and closed her eyes, welcoming in the sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello out there, my sincerest apologies for the delay, I had a very big Christmas Eve Eve and have only had a chance to get on now. Thanks again to the amazing Zoe6 who continually puts up with my inconsistencies in writing, who doesn't overuse hyphens and makes me feel good about this story - as do you all. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy new year, I won't be posting until early January unless something spectacular happens so hold tight fans. I leave you with some nice scenes and a cameo by Reynolds, but if any of you are feeling there is a lack of BAMF in the world, give me some reviews and you may just get lucky ;)**

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><p>"Wash? Where are you?" Reynolds yelled from her bedroom. She could hear him clattering around in her hallway and then her bedroom.<p>

"Bathroom Reynolds, I'm going to need a hand to get out." Alicia said, shying away from her blatant need of him.

She was sitting slightly collapsed to the floor when Reynolds came in; she'd been like this for almost an hour now. She had found it impossible to even crawl to her bedroom much less even attempt to stand up or move around.

"Wash what happened?" Reynolds asked, looking down at her from the doorway, not hiding his feelings of worry.

"I woke up and had to use the bathroom, it took me a very long time to get here and by the time I was at the sink my legs were finished. They aren't moving at all now, and my painkillers have worn off and I want to get back to bed but I can't even get there!" Alicia said with clear disgust in her voice. She was appalled at her lack of movement and felt completely and utterly hopeless and also very uncomfortable.

"Wash, you can't do anything about the fact that you got your legs sliced open by a dinosaur. And everyone gets injured, even the best of us. There's no need to feel hopeless, you just need to rest for a bit and you'll be back in no time." Reynolds said doing his best job of comforting an inconsolable lieutenant.

She looked at Reynolds, accepting that he was trying to help her.

"Thank-you, I'm sorry– it's not been a good day for me. I hate to ask it, but I'm going to need your help to get out of here."

"It's fine, how do we get you out of here?"

"You're going to have to carry me. I'm sorry Reynolds, I can't do anything else." She apologized.

"It's alright Wash, I knew you would need my help one day." Reynolds replied with a smile, sneaky bastard.

"Watch it Reynolds, remember who's the lieutenant here and can order pre-dawn runs." She replied with her own smile as her student bent down and carefully slid his arms under her. She tensed as his arms went too high and brushed her injuries. He noted the tension, apologized several times and lifted her slowly while he got to his feet.

It was a struggle to get her out of the single-person entrance of the bathroom, but he managed to manoeuvre them so they slipped right out, just brushing the walls. He carried her back to the bedroom, where the gel pillow was lying abandoned on the bed. Carefully he let her down onto the bed before stepping back, finding the situation slightly strange. She pulled up the covers and adjusted the pillow appropriately

"Thank-you Reynolds, and one more favour?" Alicia asked of him.

"Depends."

"On what exactly?"

"If I have to carry you again." Reynolds smiled, she contemplated picking up the biggest book she could find and hitting him with it but instead she settled on the childish act of throwing a spare pillow at him which he deftly deflected.

"That is no way to speak to your injured superior officer, I didn't want to punish you, but you're pushing it soldier! Just think while I am here all alone, I sure am capable of thinking up plenty of new torturous drills." She innocently responded.

"You wouldn't…" Reynolds replied as his smile fell, placing the pillow back on her bed. Alicia gave him her most intense stare, before swiftly reaching out for her pillow again and hitting him straight in the face.

"Here's the deal, this stays between us, the Commander doesn't need to know about you carrying me and I won't punish you for mocking me." Alicia proposed.

"Wash, come on. You can't keep getting stuck in the bathroom waiting for someone to come and carry you out. Besides, you are going to punish me one way or another." Reynolds argued, always one to judge Alicia's decisions, unlike a lot of people who were too afraid to.

"I'll work it out Reynolds, thank-you for all your help and I'm sorry you had to do that."

"It's okay, stop apologizing, to be honest I'm glad to see you actually letting someone help you out, even if there was a direct result of being physically assaulted. I have to go, but be careful. I'm not a doctor but I don't think that getting up is good, so let me know if you need anything." Reynolds asked while once again placing the pillow back on her bed, but he was smarter this time - he threw it on the bed before making a clean run for the hallway, with only his head popped into the room.

"Dismissed soldier." she said, although they had probably passed that point at this stage. He waved good-bye and she watched him as he walked down the hallway and heard him as he let himself out.

Alicia had managed to pass the first few hours easily as she spent the majority of it asleep but now, well, there was no chance she was going to go to sleep now that the drowsiness of the painkillers had worn off. It was almost 10am now and she had plenty of time to waste. She looked to her bedside table and saw the painkillers and realised her compulsory five hours were up, she looked through the boxes and found the right one. She took two tablets and swallowed them with water. She put her bottle down and saw the books the doctor had kindly left behind. Although Alicia did not often read - she didn't have the time to read with her job and life – she had enjoyed it as a child. She looked through the books, and Alicia, being on her own and having a slightly romantic side, chose the classic romance book. Though she had the hard exterior, Alicia at heart had a soft spot for romance – but it was only very small. Deciding to indulge herself Alicia began the book, before could chicken out.

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><p>"You're trying to tell me that you haven't eaten yet? When was the last time you ate?" The Commander barked at Alicia. He had come around at two in the afternoon, several hours after Reynolds had made his hasty retreat. He had come to make lunch, and the evident grumble of her stomach made him question her on her eating habits for the day.<p>

"Sir, I really don't think you want me to answer that. Anyway what am I supposed to do?" Alicia replied, trying to free herself from the situation, but damn she knew Taylor and knew this could take its time. She was frustrated at the Commander yelling at her and she was really not in the mood for it.

"Come on Alicia, you should know better! You need to eat, especially when you're injured! This is unacceptable!" He yelled, he was absolutely fuming now. His frustration was rubbing off on her now too.

"Well with these big cuts in my legs it's not that easy to get up and make myself lunch considering I can't even get out of bed!" She replied angrily, more contained than him but her emotions were clear. He was really testing her patience now, and all her anger and frustration was going to let rip in a minute if he didn't step back.

"That's why you have the phone. You could've called Elisabeth or me! What about Reynolds he visited? All you had to was ask!"

"You all have jobs to do, she has a colony to take care of and you have a colony to run so excuse me if I didn't want to interrupt because your injured lieutenant couldn't get out of bed to make lunch and the Commander had to come to her aid!" She yelled back at Taylor, having lost it now. Alicia had unhappily revealed the reason behind her anger - she wasn't unhappy with him but she was struggling to deal with her injury and her inability to do anything.

She watched as he put it together, she was only angry because she was weak – a problem she had never quite learnt to deal with. She saw him process his thoughts; acknowledgement and a much calmer expression slowly emerged on his face. But she was finished mentally and physically and wanted this to be over.

"Commander, just leave. I'll call Elisabeth and she can get me something. Please." Alicia said, resignation now evident in her voice, no further anger - well she was being extremely restrained about it.

"Alicia... You know I only want to take care of you. Everyone gets injured, and you know that. You can't speed up the healing process and you sure as hell can't go through life without injury especially in our field. You need to stop blaming yourself and getting angry about the fact you can't do anything. You don't look any weaker in my eyes, and you certainly won't in anyone else's. Everyone here will probably find more respect for you if you admit to the injury and take the time to heal. You would want one of your soldiers to take the time off needed so they could heal properly, so set the right example. Accept it and move on." He answered, looking right into her eyes. All his anger was now replaced with the hurt and anxiety he felt over Alicia. She could see it now, but she just couldn't deal with it.

"I know, but I just don't need this. Not now, or from you. Please just leave." She replied, all the fight in her was gone.

"Alicia... At least let me get you something to eat." He basically begged, she paused for a minute before answering Taylor.

"Fine. But only because I'm damn hungry" He chuckled at her words and even she couldn't suppress a smile.

"Wash, that wouldn't happen to be the romance book Doc gave you?" Taylor asked, switching back to calling her Wash. He often did this; when he used Alicia it was meaningful and also if he was upset or angry with her, whilst Wash was her everyday name. She was surprised and embarrassed that he had noticed the book. Quickly trying to cover it up, she tried to convince him otherwise.

"No this is definitely the crime novel, it's really very interesting. So what are you making for lunch sir?" Alicia replied, moving off from the subject.

"Don't know yet, I'll work it out once I get there." He said with a smile before leaving the room. When they were back in Somalia, if there was ever a night they were able to acquire any food that wasn't preserved and packaged, Taylor would always cook up a storm. The whole team had enjoyed his cooking and it gave them something to enjoy in a very depressing situation. Hearing him in her kitchen, it was an odd sensation. The domestic notions of having Taylor in her house, it felt almost as if they had done been doing this for years. Though they had been at each other's throats only moments before, they both knew how to defuse the other and each was thankful for it.

Alicia sat in her bed, slowly propping herself up on to the pillows she had sat up earlier but had fallen down with sleep. She sat and enjoyed the noises of Taylor in her kitchen while she waited for him to bring her lunch. She almost wished he had brought something straight from the market so she could eat now, but knew that whatever the Commander had made for her would be worth the wait.

Soon enough he walked back into the room with two bowls that Alicia was particularly keen on getting her hands on.

"Lunch is served." The Commander said with a smile on his face, passed her the bowl with a beautiful and vibrant looking salad in it before lying down on the bed beside her and settling in. She looked at him for a moment, on her bed stretched out. He turned to find her staring at him, and she looked into his eyes. She felt as though it was the most comfortable thing in the world lying here on the bed with him - well, perhaps excluding the major cuts Alicia she had in the back of her legs which were now starting to pain her; she realised she was about due for painkillers. She reached over to get the box, and took her required medication, turning away from her CO before the moment could go to far.

"Wash?" The Commander questioned, who was now looking at the box and her quite intently.

"Sorry sir, better taken with food and it's been five hours since my last and well it really hits you once the painkillers have worn off." She explained, while he nodded in response.

He was watching her, and she realised she was staring right back, fixated.

"Hop to it soldier, before I eat your salad." he said, ordering her around. She smiled, took her pills and went on to eat the salad that he had prepared. She looked back at her commander just for a second and appreciated the moment while she had it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic break, and that you have a great 2012. I have been away so apologies for the break in updates. I have literally gotten back within the hour, and this is basically the first thing I am doing. I hope you all enjoy it, this one is a whopper length so hopefully it can make up for time in between chapters, next one should be up soon! Thanks to Zoe6 again, who has given me a new found appreciation for hyphens.**** PS. Thanks to anyone who wrote a review or wrote a fic, I have 76 alerts waiting for me - I love you all!**

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><p>"Wash what are you doing?" Taylor said with an absolutely incredulous look as she sat up on her bed.<p>

"I'm getting out of this damned bed sir." Alicia replied, obviously frustrated.

"I don't think that's a good idea Wash." Taylor warned, standing just inside the doorway of her bedroom.

"When did that ever stop me? When would that stop you?" Both smiled, realizing they were as bad as each other.

"Hmm, I thought the doc said at least two days before you were off bed rest?"

"I have been in bed for two days and I am ready to get out sir. Now you can stand there and keep pretending like you have a chance of convincing me or you could help me get up." She answered, getting straight to the point.

Sighing, he realised she wouldn't budge, and joined Wash on her side of the bed. He held out his arms to her and she wrapped her hands around his forearms. Holding on tightly she slowly pulled herself up with the support of the Commander. Now standing, Wash felt much better. Although there was still plenty of pain, she was up and ready to walk to see the doctor. With maybe a little help.

"You set Wash?" The Commander asked, searching her face for discomfort or second thoughts even though he knew her well enough by now that he wasn't going to see anything she didn't want him to.

"Ready to get out of here sir." Alicia replied, letting go of one arm, so they could make their way from her bedroom to the kitchen.

"Breakfast?" Taylor asked.

"Nope, I'm getting out of here." She answered straight, even though the Commander laughed at the response. They continued through to the front door and Alicia took her first steps outside of her house for what felt like a lifetime. She had never been comfortable with getting injured, not for the injury itself but the time taken off, the fact that she was out of action. Today she was extremely happy to get out of the house, even if she was going to see the doctor to rebandage the offending injury.

She held a tight arm on Taylor as they stood out the front of her house. Wash looked from left to right and Taylor noticed.

"Wash, did you wake me up this early so no one would see you injured and getting help from me?" Taylor asked, still surprised at the lengths Alicia went to, the severity of her compulsiveness.

"No sir, I was just very keen to get out of the house." Alicia answered, a smirk breaking out of her face as they started to walk towards the hospital. Alicia was still leaning heavily on the Commander, but she didn't mind. She only hoped he didn't. She didn't have enough energy to be embarrassed at the moment, and she knew he would be the last person to ever judge her on such things.

"Whatever you say Wash, whatever you say." The Commander grinned, looking back down at her. She looked up and smiled, before focusing on the challenge at hand. They were going slowly, she knew Taylor would call it progress but she thought of it as pathetic. She was struggling, but she was still moving which was good, she figured. The trip to the doctor was not usually very long, but with her impediment it took them at least an extra half an hour. She had noticed the length of time it was taking her, but accepted the fact disapprovingly; she could no longer push herself further and knew she needed to take her time.

Alicia didn't notice the way that her Commander was looking at her from time to time, with admiration and respect. He was still amazed at her stubborn nature, but it was one of her qualities, even though it never ceased to annoy the crap out of him it was particularly endearing and respectable. She was focused strongly on moving her legs, which also gave him the chance to appreciate the feel of her leaning on him.

"Almost there Wash." He assured her, trying to encourage her.

"I am not a child learning to walk so don't talk to me like I am one." She returned through gritted teeth. Alicia looked up, stunned that he would say something so patronizing.

He looked back down at her, looking straight into her eyes with his eyebrows raised. Almost apologizing, but really she could tell he was making her step back.

"Sorry sir, that was out of line. I am just hurting a lot, and wish I was moving a lot faster." She admitted, automatically feeling sorry about her previous words. Alicia gave him an apologetic look along with it.

"It's okay, I get it. Anyway we're here now." He said, forgiving her. Still leaning onto him they made their entrance.

"Alicia, Commander you're up early." Dr Shannon greeted them as Taylor led Alicia to the physio's chair in the far back corner of the hospital.

"Didn't want to get caught in the crowd, Doc." Taylor responded, helping Wash onto the table. He could see her scowl from the pain; Dr Shannon noted the expression as well.

"Alicia did you take any painkillers this morning?" Dr Shannon asked, washing her hands at the sink before she made her way over to Alicia.

"No, I guess I was in such a rush to get out of the house..." Alicia trailed off, her voice coming from under the chair in the opening.

"Well I think I'll start you on some new ones today. They are to be taken morning and night; they're not as strong but will last for a greater period of time. You can grab them on the way out." Dr Shannon explained, as she started unwrapping the left leg of Alicia's bandage. Alicia was now wearing the shorts that the doctor had cut for her days earlier, allowing herself to Alicia's injuries. Taylor had set himself up on the side of the bench across from the chair, facing Dr Shannon. She was holding up Alicia's left leg and unwrapping the bandage. She could feel the tension coursing through her body from the pain being released from even this straightforward action. She wondered how the recovery would go if she was struggling with such a simple act as lifting her leg.

"How have they felt lately Alicia?" Elisabeth asked as she finished undressing the injury.

"They're fine Doc." Alicia spoke from underneath the chair, trying to ignore the sting or the itch in her legs.

"Wash, now is the time to take off the brave face." The Commander had caught her out, damn man knew her too well.

"The Commander is right, it's crucial that you tell me the truth about the injury. If you don't I won't be able to help you and then it's going to take you much longer to heal. I can tell you that the cuts seem to be healing quite regularly, but you need to tell me more especially in case there's something wrong." Dr Shannon explained while Alicia sat there unpleasantly agreeing.

"It itches lot, I can't stretch out or bend my leg and I am still struggling with putting any pressure on it even with the pillow" Alicia released her words quickly, trying to get them out before she could regret her weakness.

"The itching as you well know is just the healing taking place, the skin mending back together. Your struggle with flexing your leg is also okay; the wounds are very deep and hit some tissue and very nearly missed muscles. Your legs will be like this for a couple of days. This is the same for your inability to put pressure on your legs, it is a very serious injury and it will need its time to heal properly. But you have been extremely lucky to escape infection; the lack of swelling and redness is good. Out here, infection is almost certain, so both you and the Commander did a good job of washing it out and protecting it." Dr Shannon appraised, Alicia mentally noting to thank the Commander for it, among other things. Dr Shannon went on.

"I know that it hurts a lot, but over the next week it should get much better. You need to keep moving around, and you still need to see me once a day, in the mornings if that still works for you. I'll take your stitches out in a couple of days; I just need to see how fast your leg heals. But at the moment, while the cuts are so fresh, the best thing to do is to keep it elevated and stay off your legs as much as possible. Use the pillow as often as you can, if you're eating or on the couch. It will help with the pain." By the time Elisabeth was done talking she had unwrapped and wrapped both legs, washed over the cuts and was finished.

"Thank-you so much for all your help Dr Shannon, I'm sorry to be such a bother." Alicia said through her teeth as she pushed herself up from the table. She saw Taylor jump up and come over to help Alicia get to her feet. She still had to lean on him, feeling just as incompetent as before. But she knew if she wanted to get back to her place before the day was over she was going to need Taylor's help.

"It's a pleasure Alicia, and please call me Elisabeth." Elisabeth replied as she packed up her things, putting the old bandages in the bin as the Commander and his lieutenant slowly left the building. It was still early, and Alicia was not as worried this time around about anyone seeing her.

Luckily enough there was only a person or two out and about at this time of morning. It was such a struggle to move that all she could focus on was walking nonetheless. Well, that and the feeling of the Commander holding her up, with his arm wrapped around her back and the other holding her arm. Slowly step-by-step, they made it back to her place just as the rest of the colony was beginning to wake up.

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><p>Six days later, Alicia was once again in the physio's chair, which was fast becoming her new favourite piece of furniture after the amount of time she had spent there. She was here to get her stitches out, all of them. Though she had had a war's worth of stitches in her time, she was the slightest bit nervous about getting them out this time. Not that she would ever reveal it, but she was. Not only over the fact of the crazy amount of stitches she was getting taken out but... But nothing. She was a strong woman and she didn't need anyone to be here. But she did. Reynolds had offered to stay, he knew how on edge she had been lately, but Alicia knew he had a shift to report for. And, well, the Commander wasn't here. He was out, beyond the gates. He had left two days ago, which had put her in charge. Alicia hated it when she had to step in while he was OTG, it was nothing about the position of being in charge, it was about the fact that she was stepping in because he wasn't there.<p>

Taylor had left for the usual training session OTG. He would usually not be the one to make the trip outside the gate, but Alicia was still under no condition to do anything and he had insisted that he wanted to show some of the new guys OTG as she usually would by helping better prepare them for what the jungle had in store for. It was the final part of training, Alicia ran it twice over two weeks for each new group. They went for the weekend, and Taylor would usually doubt the necessity of the activity, letting half his soldiers out with Wash, but he knew that it provided the invaluable experience that the soldiers would need later on in their careers. Alicia struggled to accept the fact that she was not taking her trainees out, but she knew Taylor would do as good a job as her, if not better.

The team had been gone for two days, and were expected back soon. The whole colony was slightly off while Taylor was out, and everyone could see just how tense Alicia was about it. She walked around with tense shoulders, barking orders at everyone and anyone and although she still had a limp to both her legs, she was nearly damn well running around the whole place. Soon enough someone had called her on it, and none other than Doctor Elisabeth Shannon. The day before she had to go into the infirmary twice, once in the morning for the usual bandaging and a second time so Elisabeth could try and relax the Lieutenant.

"Alicia, I know this is tough for you, and yes believe me I know all about it. My husband goes out there every two weeks so I know what it is like, but we both know that the Commander will do everything in his power to come back safe and sound. I know it's hard to listen while I tell you this, but you honestly need to relax, it isn't any good for you or the colony. Your poor legs are suffering, and if we're not careful you may pick up an infection the way you have disregarded your body recently." Elisabeth spoke confidently, only Alicia let it slide, knowing the doctor had everyone's best interests in mind. She was still slightly worried to know that the doctor had noticed the little respect that Alicia gave to herself while the Commander was out.

"Yes I have noticed Alicia, you've got big bags under your eyes from not sleeping and you've been running around the colony like you're racing. If you keep putting this much pressure on your legs, they are never going to heal properly with all the added stress." Alicia sighed, agreeing with everything that the doctor put forward. She hated the reality of Elisabeth's words, but realised that she really needed it. After that Alicia made sure to go get a few hours sleep that night, even if it was on the table in the command centre; it wasn't great but she felt slightly better for it.

But here she was, worrying over nothing and just hoping that Doctor Shannon had a decent pair of scissors on her.

"I'm well aware of the fact that you have done this before, but I'll just run it by you anyway Alicia. I'm going to inject an anaesthetic to both legs, usually stitches wouldn't need it but due to the severity of the injuries I think that it will do you some good. I'll start with your left leg and make my way across. Are you ready Alicia?" The doctor asked as Alicia heard her pull a portable bench over that she assumed held the utensils needed for the task.

"I'm ready when you are Elisabeth." Alicia replied, enjoying the first name basis they had reached, it made her feel like she had a friend in the doctor, and that was something new and exciting for her. Usually she struggled to bond with other women, she was just very different to them, and there was always a struggle to understand each other. But Elisabeth and herself had found common likes in everything from medic work to books to waiting for their loved ones to come home. Although Alicia had never admitted it, barely to herself, she knew that Elisabeth had some awareness of her feelings for the Commander. They often found themselves waiting together for their respective partners to come back. If only she could make him understand, but even then.

Alicia suppressed the sigh that was just waiting to emerge, before she felt the little tug of the first stitch being taken out. Obliviously she had missed the needle, but she was most certainly not going to be missing the stitches from the pain she was getting just from the start. She took a big breath in and mentally prepared herself for the long wait ahead.

It was halfway, when the doctor announced that she had finished Alicia's left leg.

"Alright I'm ready to move onto your right leg whenever you're ready Alicia. If you want to take a break..." Elisabeth started but was denied quickly.

"No, let's finish this now." Alicia replied sturdily, there was no way she was going to stop now. She wanted it all to be over with and Taylor back home. She heard Dr Shannon rummage around, moving across the room gathering more supplies. She released the tension she had been holding in, letting her arms come under and rub her eyes. Her hands were slightly tingly from holding onto the chair quite hard. Alicia pulled her arms back around to the top, lay them beside her body and waited for Dr Shannon to come back.

Elisabeth came back over, and with no time to spare had begun. She had applied the anaesthetic to her second leg just as she had finished earlier, so there was now a numbing in Alicia's leg. But as the stitches came out one by one she could still feel the tug. She subconsciously gripped back onto the chair, Alicia had started to tense her body again. She tried to pull herself away from it, going through drills that she could use for her next training session when she heard a pair of boots come up beside the bed. She opened her eyes and saw Taylor's boots looking at her. He walked towards the inside of the room and she heard him stop beside the bed, across from Elisabeth.

She struggled not being able to see their interaction, but then she felt his hand prying hers away from the side of the bed and taking hold of it. His warm hand gently squeezed hers, and she squeezed back. The only reason she hadn't jumped up to check that he was uninjured was the fact that he had managed to walk into the infirmary without a problem, and Elisabeth wasn't questioning him. Both these facts made Alicia feel extremely better, and some of the tension in her body was released. After that, for the next hour she didn't feel the stitches coming out, but only his hand holding hers. Alicia could feel how damn right the moment was.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, because you all waited so long you get a new chapter really quickly :) This one is slightly a filler chapter but plenty more is coming soon. Now that we have gotten over holidays, I will try an update once a week, if I keep banging off chapters in my holiday time maybe shorter. I just wanted to thank you all for reading and it would be great to get some reviews, this story has been my life and it would be really great to hear what you guys think about it or what I can improve on. To Zoe6, just because I get to say you are my beta 'cause you are a damn rockstar in the fandom! Thanks everyone, and to show how much I love you all, there is a sneak peek at the end! **

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><p>Two weeks had passed since the stitches had come out of her legs, and Alicia could still feel it. Although it was better several times over, she still struggled sitting. But she was better and working so there was nothing more she could ask for.<p>

Elisabeth had told Alicia to take at least three days off to recover, but she only needed one. She walked into the commander's office after her recovery day, dressed for work. He gave her a questioning look, she stared right back at him. He sighed, knowing that he had already lost the fight. She was happy to be at work, but in response to her actions Taylor had given her paperwork and light duty as well as the next day's pre-dawn patrol. Alicia was annoyed at Taylor's decision, but at the end of the day she realised just how tired she was and that a slow day was the right thing to do.

Over the next week, she slowly got her normal routine up and going. Increasing her workload everyday until she was back to where she had been before. But she was better, and was independent once again and that alone made Alicia feel hundreds of times better.

Today marked the first time Alicia would go outside the gates since the accident. She wasn't nervous herself, but she knew Taylor was. He had done everything in his power to find someone else to make the trip, but the logical answer was for Alicia to go out. This trip required Alicia and two of her soldiers to obtain a particular plant that the medical team were in desperate need of. There was a virus spreading throughout the colony and supplies were running out fast. Alicia having a medic past knew the plant to look for and what it was. Although the doctor could have shown and explained it to Taylor, Alicia still had the invaluable lifetime of knowledge. After much discussion he agreed, but only on the terms that she brought three men with her instead of two.

He didn't doubt her safety, she knew how to take care of herself, but he wanted them to get plenty of the plant and three people wouldn't quite cut it. Alicia agreed, knowing that he was right, but mostly because she really just wanted to get out. She felt unused, this time because Taylor had given her a backseat for her first week back and only now was he letting her officially get back to her duties. Not that she had really held back, she ran training sessions all week and did rounds of the gates each day.

Reynolds had made a surprise visit the night before, wishing her luck on the trip.

_"Please be careful Wash, for everyone's sake. I don't think you realise but our survival is dependent on you being alive." Reynolds spoke; Alicia noted what he was saying. She felt both proud and slightly silly at the same time. _

_"Thank-you Reynolds, I'll do my best. The other soldiers are good too, we'll be fine." She replied, confident in their uneventful return._

_"Also take care of your legs, I know they still bother you. If they start hurting let the guys know, the three know you were injured, I'm pretty sure the Commander had a word with them. Those guys would expect any normal person to still be sore so don't be afraid to let them know. You really shouldn't be pushing it too hard." She was surprised at how much he picked up, and he was right, her legs still caused her grief - certainly not as much but it was there. What she wanted was to know what Taylor had told the soldiers she was going with, but decided that maybe she really didn't. _

_Because the operation to get Saunders was kept quiet, no one in the colony knew about it except for the Commander, Jim and Elisabeth Shannon, Guzman and herself. Reynolds only knew she had been attacked by a dinosaur. They had all agreed that they didn't want the colony to find out that their Commander was making secret trips OTG, and in search of a mole. Because they had arrived so early too, no one was awake to see the homecoming. Alicia's students had been worried when she hadn't turned up to their session the same day as her operation, especially when Commander Taylor had arrived in her absence. But he explained that she had done some very serious damage to her knees and wouldn't be in action for a few days. That was what was tossed and turned around the camp, and she was surprised that Taylor had told the Sergeants the truth, it had been two weeks and she was doing a hell of a lot better. But he wouldn't have told the three of them if he didn't think there was a good reason for it and she trusted him. _

_"I'll be careful Mark, hold the fort up while I'm gone." She smiled at him, using his first name was an irregular occurrence, but she liked saying it. He smiled back, she pat him on the shoulder and said goodnight._

_"Rest easy soldier, I'll be back." He nodded his head in reply to her and left Alicia standing in her doorway watching him make his way home._

It was early morning and she was finishing packing the rover. She threw her bag in, turned to Sergeants Thomas and Brennan, grabbed both their bags from them and tossed them in the back. She turned back to the third Sergeant, Ladler. She had trained them all, and each one of them was exceptionally talented and brave. Grabbing his bag, Alicia quickly went over the trip for the last time, she wanted to do it right and she wanted to do it her way. Which wasn't a problem, being the highest ranked soldier she automatically had that power.

"We have two days OTG. One day there, one day back. Get as much as possible. And I'm driving." Alicia stated, leaving no room for argument. She saw the three men look behind her and all stiffen, she knew who it was and wondering just what he had said to them yesterday to scare the soldiers even more than the thought of going OTG.

"In the rover, I'll be there in a minute." She said, dismissing them as she saw Taylor approaching. Alicia turned to face him, putting her hands into her pockets.

"Wash, you be careful out there now, I want you back in one piece, both legs attached." Taylor assured her, both of them staring straight at each other. She nodded in reply.

"You got two days Wash, no longer. Report back on comms tonight. Now get out of here." He said with a cheeky smile. She smiled back, put her hand up to signal her goodbye and went around to the front seat of the rover.

"Everyone ready? Got everything?" Alicia checked, looking at all three of them. Ladler was in front with her; Thomas and Brennan were buckled up in the back. They nodded heads in unison; Alicia turned back, buckled herself in and revved the rover to life. The gate slowly lifted itself up and Alicia slowly inched forward. As she left the colony, she looked back and she could only see Taylor. He was standing right in the middle of the platform, watching the rover as they sped of into the distance.

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><p>They had managed to use the rover for a good part of the trip, usually they would have to abandon it pretty early but they had used it until lunchtime, a good five hours. But now the four of them had another five hours to trek. She unpacked their bags from the rover, Alicia tossing the bags straight to them. She closed the back up, thoroughly locking the machine, which was now well hidden amongst the trees.<p>

She watched as the guys pulled out bottles of water and their lunches, supplied by the Terra Nova mess hall. As they went to sit down, Alicia interrupted the picnic before it could get started.

"We eat lunch as we go soldiers, that's life on the road for you." Alicia explained, as she waved her own lunch in the air and started walking in the direction that the map directed them. She didn't need to look back to make sure they were following, she could hear the sighs and crunch of their boots on the ground. She smiled to herself and started to eat lunch, preparing herself for the five hours ahead.

"Lieutenant Washington." Alicia turned in response to her name; the three soldiers were lined up next to each other, an assortment of fruits and drinks between the three.

"Thomas."

"How many times have you been OTG?" She was walking backwards now, only needing to check once that the coast was clear for her to continue walking that way.

"Good question, way too many times to count I can tell you that." She said, trying to honestly count, but she gave up hope once she realised she was going at least three times a month, and that was only since the 10th had arrived.

"Do they go wrong often?" Ladler asked, looking nervous - a rookie mistake.

"No, but it depends I guess on what you would call going wrong. Generally trips OTG with anyone involved don't go wrong or turn out badly. Anyone that goes outside is capable of taking care of themselves and others. You just need to be prepared for anything and everything." Alicia replied, looking over her back, doing a sweep of the area.

"Are you expecting trouble on the trip?" Brennan questioned her, looking slightly nervous as well.

"You learn out here, never to expect anything. The jungle is as unpredictable as it's inhabitants, so there's really no way of saying if we will come across trouble. Considering the remoteness of the area, I believe we should be clear. But that's no promise, and you shouldn't feel any safer than before. As long as you keep an eye and an ear out, we'll survive." Alicia explained, before turning back to finish her lunch. She almost wondered if she was being too harsh, but realised that there was no room for comfort in these jungles. She could not protect them from what was out there by telling them their enemies did not exist. Alicia was being realistic, and that was what she needed to do in order to survive the trip.

"How are you legs Lieutenant?" She heard Brennan call from behind, the question almost made her stop. Sure she knew they all had heard what happened from Taylor, but she wasn't expecting anyone to say anything about it. Nonetheless, she continued walking and answered the question while still looking ahead.

"They're fine soldier, nothing for you to worry about. Two weeks since and they're good as new." She replied, although this time she was outright lying. But Alicia knew they wouldn't know any better of it, and there was no use putting a seed of doubt in their heads. Alicia was fine, yes it still throbbed a bit, and ached when she put any weight onto it, but it was nothing unexpected or intolerable.

"Just wanted to make sure you were good Lieutenant." Brennan added and she believed it. He had been a hardworking soldier when she trained him, and she knew how much he had been looking forward to his first trip out.

All three were dedicated and fearless - Thomas was a very big man, and had the strength to show for it. Ladler was short, but he still had the heart of a lion. Sure he got nervous easily, but when it came down to it he would be out there, guns a-blazing. She knew they were all good soldiers, having trained each one, and she knew they would all be proper companions to the field of their destination. Well, as long as they stopped asking her questions.

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><p><strong>SNEAK PEEK Coming at you...<strong>

"Think of it this way, whatever decision you make someone's blood will be on your hands by the end of today Commander. You know it just as well as I do, so let's just hope you make the right choice."


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow guys, I am such an awful updater and hypocrite, I always expect people to update every day but can't seem to stick to once a week for myself. In exchange for your much appreciated waiting I will once again provide you with a sneak peek, feel free to drop a review on who you think are having the conversation and more importantly who it's about. Yes, I shall keep bribing you with sneak peeks as I continually fail at updating, but it's the least I can do. This chapter is short, but hopefully I will be coming at you with a new one soon and you enjoy it nonetheless! Thanks to Zoe6 for putting up with me! **

**PS. Quick question (for another fic) if Alicia was getting married would it be in her dress uniform or in a traditional white dress? I am unconvinced either way, let me know what you think! Thanks for sticking with me guys, it will be worth it eventually!**

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><p>"Alicia Washington reporting from camp."<p>

"Commander, are you there? Okay, okay, you can do it Elisabeth, you can work out how to use the comm. Oh wait, Alicia can you hear me?" The doctor called from what Alicia assumed was the hospital.

"I got you loud and clear Elisabeth, where is the Commander? Is everything alright?" Alicia started to worry about why he was in the infirmary, especially if he had chosen to go there voluntarily.

"He's fine, he just wanted to make sure everything was okay here at the infirmary and that the sick were stable overnight. Don't worry Alicia, he is fine."

"Right, how come he's not answering comms?"

"He was just talking to one of the nurses for a moment."

"Elisabeth, what aren't you telling me? I can hear it in your voice and for starters he never voluntarily chooses to go to the infirmary." Alicia stated, wondering what on earth had happened.

"Look he did pop by to check that we were managing okay here, but..."

"But what Elisabeth?"

"He came in because he knew you had seen me yesterday and he wanted to make sure you would be up for the trip and that your legs were okay. Taylor wanted to know if he had made the right decision by letting you out. He's really worried about you Alicia." Elisabeth confessed. She knew he was worried about the trip, but couldn't he have just asked her if she would make it, instead of seeing Elisabeth? He had to know she was needed on this trip; there wasn't really a decision to make in the first place. Alicia needed this trip, to get back outside, to prove to her as well that she was okay. She sighed and replied to the doctor who was waiting on the other end of the line.

"Thank-you Elisabeth, but I am fine. When the Commander gets back let him know we made it to the fields alright with a couple of full bags, there should definitely be enough to get us through the sweep now and any future cases. We have set up camp, and will be on our way home at first light."

"I'll let him know. Try and get some sleep tonight Alicia; I promise I will tell the same thing to the Commander. Take care of yourself, and the other soldiers. I want to see you back before nightfall tomorrow, and you come straight to me." Alicia laughed at the directions that Elisabeth was giving her. Usually she would punch someone that tried to give her an order that wasn't from Taylor - then again he wasn't much of an exception to that rule. Alicia had to admit however she just enjoyed the fact that Elisabeth was looking out for her. Also the comm. systems added a barrier for any physicality.

"Don't worry about me, take care of those soldiers while I'm gone. Tell them that I do not want this trip to be a waste, and I will see you as quickly as I can." She said, still smiling to herself over the doctor's previous words.

"I will do my best and make sure everyone here does as well. Take care." Elisabeth somehow managed to slip in a couple more words of concern.

"You too Elisabeth, by the way when you turn it off, you just need to tap the device twice." Alicia providing the information that she knew the doctor had needed.

"Thank-" and her words cut out as Elisabeth turned the power off on Taylor's comm. Alicia smiled again, before turning her own comm. off and slipping it inside a pocket on her vest. She had opted for the first night shift, and although they had agreed on doing it in partners she had told Thomas to nod off. She would wake him just before the others so it would appear as though he had been awake the whole time. Alicia did not expect trouble on the trip, but it was always better to be safe rather then sorry, and the guys would like it better to lookout if they had each other for company.

Alicia usually would not exhibit nice behavior such as she had shown towards Thomas, but it had been a long day, and they were all exhausted. Even Alicia had to admit that her legs were sore from the walk and that she couldn't wait to swap with Brennan and Ladler for some much needed sleep. She did a scan of the surroundings, looking for anything out of place, and when nothing caught Alicia's eye she turned back to the group and waited out the next few hours.

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><p>"Lieutenant, it's 7am you have to wake up. Lieutenant?"<p>

"If you value your life Brennan walk back very slowly, and make no sudden noises or movements. Make sure everyone else is ready to go." Alicia growled she had stupidly forgotten to ensure that she had the last lookout. She was most certainly not a morning person, and she had never met someone who was able to wake her without leaving with a broken or bruised bone. Even the Commander had learnt the lesson the hard way, which luckily for him had only resulted in a black eye and left her humiliated for days. He had now learnt to either get someone else to make the mistake of waking her, or he stood several feet away when doing so. She usually spent her mornings willing herself to get out of bed, and it took her a long time to adjust. But OTG, she generally went for being grumpy. Bossy and awake rather than slow and dead. She sighed before finally moving to get out of her makeshift bed.

Alicia opened her eyes to see Brennan standing several feet away waking up Thomas, who was also struggling on getting up this morning like her. She sat like that for a moment, before she saw Brennan glance over to her and slightly flinch. She felt bad because she hadn't thoroughly warned the three soldiers on her morning grumpiness, but at least she hadn't harmed him and now the three of them would all know that the scariest thing you could do would be to wake up the Commander's second.

Alicia jumped up, setting an example for the others and started to pack up her things in haste. Thomas walked over to her, looking nervous. He had his bag in one arm and using the other pulled out a piece of fruit.

"I'm not a good morning person, usually this makes me feel better and wakes me up nicely." He said sheepishly while offering her the fruit. She glared him down, but realised that he was offering her the fruit in good faith. A small smile made it's way to her face and she accepted the fruit.

"Thank-you Thomas, I hope you have a couple more in there for the rest of the morning in case I look like I'm going I rip someone's head off." She said with a smile and even Thomas smiled slightly at her attempt of humor. Alicia was turning to finish her packing when an arrow flew past her head and right into Thomas' chest, right where his heart was. She watched as he collapsed, and he was dead before he could even hit the ground. Alicia pulled her sonic pistol out in seconds and turned to shoot the killer. She blasted off shots before she saw a body fly backwards and immediately turned back to the group, but couldn't find either Brennan or Ladler, she hoped that they had managed to hide themselves at the very least.

Alicia turned; covering herself on all sides and saw the dozen or so Sixers gaining on her in a circle. She shot her pistol, several times, knocking Sixers off effectively. But she had spent a few too many seconds facing one direction where there were a gang of Sixers to shoot, and just before she turned to shoot the person coming up behind her a long iron bar had crashed into the back of her thighs. Although Alicia tried to fight it, her legs caved in as the injuries she had thought were almost healed screamed in agony. She clenched her gun, and flipped over to shoot the offender, before she realised they had their own pistol trained right above her head.

"Lieutenant Washington, that would not be a good idea and might I add it's so nice to see you again." The gunman said before taking her own weapon away and butting her head with it, knocking her unconscious.

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><p><strong>My bribery...<strong>

"After she died, he was never the same. We both tried our hardest, everybody did, but she still won't be coming back and neither will he."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! Welcome back everyone! Here we are, a nice chunky chapter for you (my second longest), with a nice scary cliffhanger at the end to tease you all! Thanks for sticking with me guys, it really means a lot that you are still supportive and reading! Also big thank-you to Zoe, the only beta I could ever want! By the way readers, I am working on a few one-shots at the moment (which may include the wedding proposed in chapter 8) which hopefully I can get around to publishing! But for the moment, here is the much anticipated Chapter 9! **

**P.S. I also want to mention that I wrote this before the TN finale, and I have a whole different concept to everything surrounding Somalia, but you'll find that out soon enough. Also Lucas is a creep. But he was that in the show too, so not much of a difference there. **

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><p>This was the second time she had been kidnapped by the Sixers, and Alicia hated it more thoroughly this time than previously. The situation was more difficult and the Sixers weren't just asking to speak to a little girl - it was a whole lot more deadly than that. Also she had sustained serious injuries this time, and it only made her angrier that she would be spending more time off duty.<p>

The Sixer who had been assigned to Alicia dragged her from the back of the rover and behind the car. She was then faced with her kidnapper - who also seemed to be running the show at the Sixer camp. Lucas Taylor. He smiled when he saw her and she grimaced in reply. She knew she could take him, and her six foot five guard, but they had thoroughly chained her so she was almost incapable of walking. But that was barely a problem; she didn't think she would even be able to walk without the chains.

"Are you ready Alicia? This is a big moment for you! Well me too, but let's see how this plays out." He said smugly and winked at her. She had stuck with the silent treatment for the two days that followed while she was at the mercy of Lucas and the Sixers' hands. Although a direct result had been bruises and broken bones all over her body, she also knew the cuts on her legs had reopened and been aggravated further. However, Alicia understood her actions were to save the colony, the Commander especially. Alicia was not going to give in, and it only took hours for Lucas to realize that she had not changed since he left - though that fact did not stop him from using further violent force. She glared him down, before Lucas nodded to the guard and he dragged her so that she was in between, but beyond, the two Sixer rovers.

Although the Sixers stood with Lucas, Alicia noted they distanced themselves further behind then they usually would when they came to the gates with Mira. It showed that they were associated with Lucas, but not tied to him. Mira was still with them, she stood not too far behind Lucas, leaning against one of the rovers, prepared to step in if he screwed things up.

Alicia looked up to see the state of Terra Nova. It was almost nightfall, the sun was just on the horizon, spending its last moments basking everyone in a beautiful gold light. She could see soldiers waiting behind the gates, more manning the sonic cannons and the rest of the civilization was hanging around inside the gates where more soldiers were acting as a barrier. The gate slowly rose, and she saw Taylor come forward, Jim just behind him with two-dozen soldiers alongside him, Reynolds included. Alicia could see Reynolds clearly, he was not even attempting to hide the concern and anger on his face, Jim looked slightly distressed and, well, Taylor was Taylor. He was standing there, looking cold as stone. She hung her head, not daring to look him in the eyes; she knew exactly what he would see.

They had ripped off her armor and her long-sleeved sweater to leave her in a singlet, her pants and boots. But that wasn't the worst of it, they had pulled her hair out in a mess, and although she was happy that it provided her face a curtain, the colour and intensity of the bruises on her face were too much for her hair to contain. The bruising along her arms were even worse, blues and purples everywhere. Her legs were the worst, but they were hidden away from his eyes. She knew however there were bloodstains, soaking the back of her pants from the reopening of her wounds. Though that was a comfort, knowing he wouldn't be able to see the extent to which her legs had been further aggravated.

Her guard pushed her forward, she didn't realise how much she had been leaning on him until she was forced to stand by herself, and she found herself completely unable to. She collapsed on to her knees, and she bit her lip hard to keep the pain from making itself known. She tried to ease up on her legs, but knew it wouldn't make any difference, the pain she was in would not be calmed so easily. Alicia looked up to face the colony, to face Taylor. She heard Lucas walk up from behind her, standing to her left, right in front of his father.

"What have you done Lucas?" The Commander confronted his son; Alicia knew that seeing her like this would be hard, but with Lucas taking charge of the whole situation, she knew that would hit home much worse. Seeing his companion of so many years, battered and bruised by his son. She wasn't too happy with the situation herself.

"Always trying to blame it on me. Well you can blame her - Alicia wouldn't talk. That's not my fault is it now? You've trained her well enough, not enough that I couldn't do a little damage. No matter, I have a special present for you father before we get to business." Lucas replied. He put two fingers in the air and motioned towards Terra Nova. Two guards came from behind the second rover, each one gripping a soldier, Ladler and Brennan. Alicia had not seen them since the kidnapping, and was glad to see both were okay, surviving with little damage. She had only hoped that the two soldiers had survived after the kidnapping, and if they had been caught by Lucas as she had suspected, that they were left unharmed. Lucas wasn't after them; he didn't want anything from the soldiers. That was the only thing that could comfort her as she had sat in her makeshift cell wondering about their fate.

Both were handcuffed and held two bags of the plant in which the team had originally been sent to retrieve. "These two were so unhelpful, I broke them so quickly but they had nothing for me, so you can have them back. Don't know why you would want them, to be honest. Anyways, I thought you might like the plants, I took some for the Sixers but you get the rest. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun out here if your whole colony died!" Lucas admitted, before patting them both on the back and signaling for the Sixers to unlock them.

The soldiers were back on the commander's side quickly, with pats on the back and plenty of soldiers looking to make sure they were okay. Both men quickly exited the scene of the confrontation, to be met by several nurses, a couple for the bags and the others for the soldiers. None of them were Elisabeth. While those two were escorted off, Alicia could see Elisabeth's figure in the background, shifting back and forth, waiting for her to come through the gates.

"Lucas don't play games with me." Taylor replied, growling at his own son. Alicia was looking at Taylor, but struggled not to feel guilty about the whole situation when she saw how angry he was.

"Now why would I do that? But this _will_ be fun, I can assure you of that."

"Lucas, what is your deal? Tell me before I order my men to attack."

"Now, now, that wouldn't be such a good idea would it?" Lucas replied before pointing his gun right at Alicia. She sat tall, ignoring the imminent threat on her life; she saw Taylor briefly glance to her before turning back to his son.

"Damn it Lucas, get on with it."

"Okay, I'm getting there, don't rush me. Now really wouldn't be the right time to get me angry because who knows what would happen. So the deal is this, you have two choices - your lieutenant or myself and everything I have on Terra Nova. That includes dinosaur profiles, maps of the jungle including parts you haven't ventured too, how to contact 2149 even possibly how to make a second portal... Oh that one got your attention didn't it, I had an inkling it might. Everything you know I have been working on and how to improve Terra Nova for the better and, well, me. I know what _I_ would pick. But you're the one making the choice."

"Why are you doing this Lucas?" Taylor practically growled, and if she had not known him she most certainly would have flinched at the emotion in his voice.

"Because you know what, '_Dad_', I've had enough of our games. I want to end this. Or end you. What better way to do that but force you to choose between the two people you care most about? Well, also information that could lead to a major turning point for Terra Nova, but that was just to encourage you down the right road. I want to hurt you father, just like you did when you left me out to dry when Mum died. When you tossed me aside as a son and threw me to the wolves. I will never forgive you for any of that. You're lucky I'm even alive, and you have Alicia to thank for that. She was the only one who cared enough to look after me; when you forgot me.

"Isn't it kind of funny now that Alicia once saved me and now I might be killing her today? The world works in funny ways like that I guess. I knew if I killed her - probably in front of you, just so it can really hurt you - you'd mourn and cry and whatever you do, but that wasn't quite enough for me. I wanted to make you feel like _you _should die. Just like I did when I was 14 and Mum died. So instead of me killing Alicia or making her kill me, I'm making you do it. Because what's worse than choosing between your very own son and your best friend of, what, 20 years? Nothing. So here we are. Time to finish this once and for all. Better make the right decision." Taylor's expression had remained focused throughout the whole spiel, and she would only wonder what was going through his head. It was a heavy burden Lucas carried, and he had carried it for far longer than he should have. That is why he is as he is now, as much as she has attempted to prevent it in his teenage years. But now that Taylor had to make the decision, to hear his son say those words... Alicia wanted to say something to him, comfort him in some way. She knew how much Lucas' hatred towards Taylor had always stung him hard, but after everything Lucas had admitted she didn't know what he could be thinking.

Alicia watched as Taylor processed the thoughts in his mind, working out what he wanted to say next. She could feel the glare that Lucas was sending him from right next to her.

"What happens to who I don't choose?"

"They die. Think of it this way - whatever decision you make, someone's blood will be on your hands by the end of today Commander. You know it just as well as I do, so let's just hope you make the right choice. And a tip, this information here is damn good, you can ask Alicia, I even showed her. It's great information. I mean I didn't show her _all_ of it, cause then she would know all about it and wreck the whole deal, but enough that you know Terra Nova will not be able to survive without it. Or me." Lucas said with a more serious tone to his voice as he explained the failure of the colony if the Commander didn't pick him and the information.

Alicia was still looking up, Taylor looked to her and she nodded, indicating the information was good. The Commander turned back to Lucas and spoke.

"My decision has been made."

"That was quick, father, considering you're picking between two very important people. I thought you might have taken a little longer to be honest, but that's okay. Just reminding you that if you pick your second here, she's all you get. You don't get me."

"I want Alicia." The Commander clearly stated. Even though this was the decision she had expected, it was still so much to hear him put her before the colony. She looked at the soldiers, the colony, who all seemed confident in the decision. Alicia could not express how she felt about the whole colony backing her, but knew she would fight to deserve it everyday.

Throughout the conversation, Lucas had inched closer to her, so that at this point he was right next to her. He lifted her to her feet by grabbing onto the handcuffs that were behind her back. Alicia instinctively pulled on her lip again as pain tore through her legs. The two of them stood next to each other, the Commander looking from one to the other.

"You really want her, over me, over this?" Lucas asked while waving the shell that contained all his work.

"What part of 'I want Alicia' doesn't make sense to you Lucas?" The Commander pointed out, with his emotions still in check as he sentenced his son to death.

"Alright, be that way. Goodbye father." Lucas said as he pointed the sonic to his head. He then dropped the shell to the ground and produced a second gun, pointing straight at the information case.

"Lucas." Alicia hissed. "This is not what we agreed on," She spat at him, looking down at the ground while she spoke.

"That's true. I guess I asked you first so your decision is the one that really matters here. Sorry Commander, but I did ask Alicia first, it's only fair." He said before turning his gun onto her; she lifted her head now, she knew she was doing the right thing. Alicia watched as all the guns on the Terra Nova side lifted higher, safeties were turned off, but Lucas continued. "Also if you shoot me, there are maybe 30 Sixers behind me who will all shoot Alicia and then you, Commander, so maybe you should tell your soldiers to relax a little. They won't shoot otherwise, I made them promise. Anyway Alicia made the decision, she very valiantly opted to die so you could live on and prosper. Very brave like that aren't you Alicia? I have to admit I'm not really sad about the fact I'm going to kill you. I mean, you did save my life, but well... that means nothing. You chose him. He let you down Alicia and now you're going to pay for it with your life."

Alicia still stood tall despite the hurtful words. To hear him dismiss her so quickly, though it did not matter, it still hurt her that he thought so little now of her actions back in Somalia and onwards, when she saved him from himself. She could see and feel everyone's eyes on her. The decision was not made rashly, she knew in her heart of hearts that both Lucas and the information would provide so much more for the colony. Alicia was proud of her choice, and would not shy from it. That was why she stood tall, even though the pain nearly caused her to collapse. That's why she stood with her head up, to tell Terra Nova and its residents it was the right choice and to live by that, to prove that she choose right.

Alicia looked at her commander for the last time. The man with whom she had spent so much of her life, a man that she had the utmost respect and admiration for. Who had trained her to within an inch of her life, and then had personally requested her transfer to his unit. The CO that had trusted her with the life of his own son, before and after the death of his wife. The man who she had stitched up on so many occasions she needed more than two hands to count, he who had announced to her that she would be his lieutenant on Terra Nova and that she was the first person he wanted. He who had waited 118 days for her and said he had never wanted to see anyone come through the portal other than her. He who trusted his life with her and had for so long. She looked at him while he blinked. There was still so much she had to say to her commander, so much she had never admitted to even herself but needed to tell him. She did not have the time; Alicia pulled herself away from his blue eyes, and the last thing she wanted to see.

She stared forward. She was ready.


	10. Chapter 10

**I love you all. I hope you know that, because it is extremely important you remember it. My sincerest apologies, I have had the absolute worst couple of weeks and am finding it really hard to make everything in life work, but that is no excuse. I wanted to post this on V-Day, but a) the internet wasn't working and b) I realised this chapter wasn't good enough for you loyal readers, so I re-wrote the start which is hopefully better than what I had orignially intended to publish. **

**I have finally also made an outline for the story, and it seems we have another 10 chapters to go. But first I have to get down to business and write the last couple of them, so hopefully I can finish this up soon. Thanks once again to Zoe6 for dealing with the unreliable emailer and writer that I am; forever am I in your debt. Thanks to all my loyal readers who continue to want to read the story, I have no idea why you put up with me, but it makes my day that you do. Feel free to write about it in a review ;) My love to you all, and enjoy!**

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><p>Lucas grabbed her wrists and roughly shoved her to the ground, adjusting so the gun was placed at the pack of her head. Lucas pushed the sonic to her head; he was ready with the killshot. Alicia was praying that what she saw was correct because otherwise the situation was going to get a lot worse, if that was even possible. She heard everyone take a breath in as Lucas gave her some departing words.<p>

"Say hello to my mother for me."

"Lucas. Don't do this." Taylor called out surprising Lucas, this gave Wash the opening she needed, and it was perfectly timed. While Lucas was momentarily distracted, Alicia threw all her weight back into Lucas effectively knocking him back. Her head went violently into his stomach, caught off guard he stumbled back. Alicia pulled herself to her feet achingly and slow; turning to face Lucas but his father had already taken him down.

Lucas had planned the whole execution perfectly, thinking through every possible variable and he had told her so. She was glad to know that somehow, though completely exhausted, she had managed to find the one flaw in his plan. Her fighting back. He had expected it while she was hostage, but not when she was about to die and running on virtually nothing. Especially since she had already opted to die for the sake of the colony. Alicia had figured he would assume that all the damage that had been done to her body would restrict her from making any rash movements to stop him shooting her. But his father had trained her - to fight back at all costs. He had taught her that bodies could be mended, but not if they were dead. Pain could be dulled without dying. She was a fighter and damn Lucas if he thought she would die without putting up a fight. Cuts and bruises, however severe would not stop the soldier in her; and it would most certainly not stop her urge to fight back.

Taylor had also taught his soldiers a personalized form of Morse code, and that in any hostage situation blinking was the perfect way of getting a message across to the unit.

Alicia watched as the rest of the soldiers and Sixers cocked their guns, though neither side took the next step and shot. Mira held her hand up to tell hers to stop pointing at Alicia and the soldiers, and Alicia turned to look at the rest of the colony and nodded in a general direction for them to lower their weapons as well. Taylor had Lucas handcuffed on the ground before pulling him to his feet. Taylor kicked the shell to Jim and looked to Mira.

"Do you want him?"

"We'll find a use for him." Mira nodded, walking over to receive Lucas. Alicia could see Lucas was fuming, but wasn't troubled by it or the fact that her commander had just passed his son straight back over to the Sixers. Before Mira got into the rover, she pulled a key from Lucas' front pocket and threw it to Taylor.

"You really should take more care of her." Mira said as she departed, Alicia watched as her captors drove away. She turned to Taylor as he came forward and unlocked her wrists and ankles. He stood up in front of her and she looked straight at him. With only a moment's pause, Taylor pulled her into a hug and the otherwise silent Terra Nova erupted with cheers. But after only a moment of celebration, the agony Alicia had been through for the last day hit her and she slumped into his hug, unable to hold herself up again.

"Alicia."

"I can't hold myself up sir, I'm sorry."

"Don't ever apologize, please. I'm just glad to have you back, but I think it would be best if we got you to the infirmary." Alicia nodded into his chest in response and she tried to pull away, but her legs started to crumble from underneath her. Luckily Taylor had been in the same position with her weeks earlier and had her in his arms before she could even begin to protest. He gathered her up and they started towards the gates. Alicia was embarrassed and felt sheepish as he carried her home, but the smiles on everyone's faces; Jim's, Reynolds, the rest of the soldiers as they all pat Taylor on the back and gave her encouraging and praising words, she soon left the humiliation behind. She even started to smile a little, but the injuries were really starting to have an impact on her and she was struggling to conceal it. The group of soldiers, herself and Taylor walked through the gates, but at this point Taylor had noticed the change in Alicia and was going at a much faster rate, heading towards a very nervous Elisabeth.

"Welcome back Alicia, I'm sorry about this but I need you to give me a catalogue of injuries as we walk, you're going straight into surgery once we arrive." The mood was broken as the doctor got to the issue at hand. The soldiers slowly peeled off, patting each other on the back and relaxing. Only Jim and Reynolds stayed.

"Broken left index finger and right wrist, sprained ankle, broken cheekbone and possibly my nose as well, severe bleeding and bruised... Everywhere and all the lacerations on my legs have been reopened." Alicia presented the information the doctor needed calmly, but could see on everyone else that the list had made them all very uncomfortable and worried. "But I'm fine."

"Alicia, please, just let Doctor Shannon help you." Reynolds said, evidently upset at her injuries.

"I'm here Reynolds and I'm alive, stop worrying."

"Alicia how bad are your legs?" Although she wanted to sugarcoat for the company, she knew that it was necessary information.

"Extremely... they had iron bars." She felt Taylor tense his arms around her, and saw the rest of the group act similarly. She paused, about to continue about the fact that they had known about the injuries. Alicia wanted to bring up the three soldiers who had learnt about her injuries through Taylor, before she recalled the scene she had left behind in the jungle.

"Alicia?"

"Thomas is dead." Alicia said, feeling awful about the events that had transpired. She felt a pang in her stomach as she remembered his death. Taylor hugged her a bit closer, but this further reminded her of the pain. She clenched her eyes closed, as if to block out it out.

"Commander we need to get Alicia to the infirmary right now." Elisabeth stated, and she could plainly hear the anxiety. Even Alicia was struggling to work out how she was conscious and not dead. The injuries she had sustained were all severe in their own manner. She could hear both Jim and Reynolds make a fuss over her closed eyes. With the doctor's urging, she felt Taylor speed up, but not enough that it could inflict pain on her.

But she was already done for; she could see the black haze that she had grown all to accustomed too.

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><p>Alicia slowly woke up from her sleep, opening her eyes to the inside of the hospital, another all too familiar place. But this time she had her own section of the building, with several chairs beside the bed. She blinked a few times, before trying to prepare herself for the pain. Instead there was a numb sensation throughout her body; she would usually worry about such things except this was medicinally induced.<p>

"Decided to join us again Wash?" The Commander asked, seated in one of the chairs beside her.

"I knew you would be lost without me." Alicia joked back, and she saw him smile - she figured it was a good sign she was making a joke, even at his expense. "How long was surgery this time around?"

"You're keeping Dr Shannon busy, that's for sure. This time around it was roughly..." The Commander paused to check his watch. "Seven or eight hours, probably longer. You've been out cold the whole day." He finished, leveling her with a serious gaze. She watched as he took in a deep breath, looking over her damaged and bandaged body.

"Nathaniel" She watched as he almost jerked from the use of his first name. "I'm okay."

"Alicia... Don't tell me it's okay when it's most certainly not. That was a whole day I had to sit here, and do nothing while I waited for Doctor Shannon to confirm you were alive. They didn't even know if you were going to make it, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it except for sit and wait. Damn it, you nearly died on me Alicia!" He cried, as he stared at her, all his anxiousness on show in the private setting. She gingerly lifted her right arm, which had been placed in a cast to immobilize her broken wrist, and caught hold of his hand.

"I'm here, and I'm not planning on going anywhere." She assured him, trying to comfort him. He was a man who never really came out from behind his mask; his emotions were always restrained, just like hers. She knew she was capable of being his undoing and this only proved it, but it was the same vice versa. Alicia was normally a stoic and unemotional woman, but Taylor was always the one that threw her off balance.

Before they had time to recover, Elisabeth Shannon walked into the room. Taylor immediately tried to pull his hand back, but she kept a strong grip – well, speaking in relative terms. Elisabeth was smart enough to not to look between them for the moment, but instead crossed to the other side of the bed to look at Alicia's vitals.

"Good morning, I heard voices so I wanted to come in and check up on you. Alicia I have to tell you, you gave us a mighty scare," Elisabeth frowned as she looked at the cheek, which had been broken, as well as peering at her nose. "That was not an easy surgery and it was not short, but everything seems to be looking stable for the moment. How are you feeling? How much pain is there in your body?" The doctor continued, looking over more of Alicia's injuries.

"I feel like crap, but the pain isn't too bad, the drugs have done a pretty good job of numbing my body, but I can start to feel it fading slightly." Alicia explained, starting to feel niggles all across her body as the numbness started to slowly drift away.

"I can't imagine you would be feeling any differently, I'll turn the IV up slightly while you're awake, but it should still be having an effect on the pain." Elizabeth finished as she focused intently on several machines that were surrounding her patient.

"I just wanted to say thank-you Elisabeth, for everything." Alicia said, unable to rely on her nonexistent emotional skills. She knew how much effort and hard work the doctor had put in over the last few weeks to help Alicia and she wanted to acknowledge the woman in some way. Even if she really struggled with emotional conversations.

"It's my pleasure, you have been somewhat of a medical challenge for me, keeping me on my toes. But I'm just glad that you're alright." Elisabeth said smiling at Alicia. Alicia was glad that Elisabeth hadn't gone any further; she didn't think she could handle any more emotion in one morning. She just wanted to show her appreciation for the hard work. "I want to turn you over to look at your legs, but I think you have a few too many injuries to make that possible, so can you tell me how they feel, if you can in fact feel the cuts?" Elisabeth asked slipping straight back into doctor mode. Alicia could feel her gel pillow underneath the cuts, and was comforted by the thought someone had brought it for her. They had started to throb slightly, and the pressure of sitting on them was getting to be quite uncomfortable.

"They are still sore from lying on them, but the pillow is helping. They are throbbing slightly, but I think the drugs have taken care of most of it." Alicia explained to the best of her ability in her drugged state.

"Everything looks to be stable for the moment and since it is 5am and I have been waiting for you to wake up, I am going to head home and try and get some sleep. Commander, you should think about doing the same, she's awake now so you can go home and try and get some sleep before the rest of the colony wakes up. There are still a few nurses here if you need them, but you should be alright for the next few hours. Is there anything I can get either of you before I leave?" The doctor asked, looking between the two of them.

"I think we're okay here thanks Doc, go home and get a good sleep. I will be fine too. Tell Jim to come over and bring Reynolds with him, please." Taylor said, breaking his silence from across the small room. Alicia nodded in agreement and smiled at the doctor in thanks.

"Of course Commander, rest easy Alicia." Elisabeth said smiling before she left the room and Alicia nodded at her.

"Why do you want them?" Alicia asked her commanding officer a few moments later, curious as to the order.

"Your legs, the Sixers knew about the injuries." Taylor said as a muscle twitched in his jaw. He instinctively clutched her hand tighter. She normally would appreciate the gesture if it were to occur, except the added pressure on her hand made her wince, in a very unAlicia-like manner. The Commander quickly let go of her injured arm, looking apologetically at her.

"Sorry Wash, I just want to get to the bottom of this and find out who was responsible. Someone from inside this colony leaked that information to the Sixers ... And Lucas. No one gets away with betraying Terra Nova, and most definitely no one is getting away lightly with kidnapping or injuring my lieutenant." He offered, she nodded in response to the apology. Wait, _my_ lieutenant? Taylor seemed perfectly fine about the ownership in the sentence, so she ran with it.

She started to explain the predicament they had been placed with, but Jim and Reynolds walked into the room - though the information was relevant to both of them so she continued. Both of them looked puffed and were pink in the cheeks, Alicia knew they had rushed here. Reynolds she figured had been on patrol, and Jim would have been on a walk. She knew he did that when he was stressed, maybe he was hoping for a Sixer to jump out so he could let off a little steam.

"The Sixers obviously knew about my injuries, so someone here at Terra Nova must have leaked it to them. But no one had any knowledge about my injuries except for everyone here, Elisabeth and Guzman. The three soldiers were the only other ones who had any idea; Ladler, Brennan and Thomas..." Alicia drifted off, remembering Thomas again.

"Then there's a leak in either Brennan or Ladler. Did you two see if they were still here on your way in?" The Commander asked the two new arrivals.

"No sir, they were discharged last night. They both received only minor injuries." Reynolds answered confidently. He looked to Alicia, losing his facade slowly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Reynolds, just a little roughed up. Don't worry about me." He gave a pleading look in response. While she knew he was ready to make a big fuss, she was just as ready to sweep the injuries under the rug and move on. But it was easier said than done - although she had not specifically been told how long she would be out for the count, she knew it would be much longer than she would ever be able to deal with.

"You sure Wash?" Jim asked, even his usual comedic personality was put on hold to make sure she was okay. Although Alicia had spent years without a family, she still considered herself without one here. But the worry that was felt over her by the many people at Terra Nova had challenged her beliefs. Between the Shannon family, her "little brother" Reynolds and several other soldiers including the ones she had trained, she found it hard to convince herself she was still alone. Then there was Taylor. She didn't even know where the two of them were at, but she knew they had been watching each other's six since either of them can remember. They both trusted each other with their lives; they had been to Somalia and back and survived. Although there was no word to suit their relationship, it had survived the ages.

"I'm fine, I'll be better once I get out of this damn hospital, but that's beside the point. Brennan and Ladler need to be found immediately. I don't know which one is the leak, but they have both been presented with mild privy information on problems with outposts and other information that we don't want the Sixers to have access to. That is if our informant hasn't already told them." Alicia said, making the chase that little bit more frantic and important.

"Shannon, Reynolds, find them both as quickly as possible, and try not to make too much of a fuss or bring attention to yourselves. Take them straight to the brig, and then let me know once you're there. I'll be doing the interrogations this time around." Taylor ordered as Reynolds and Jim left, both glancing towards Alicia as she gave an unusual encouraging smile to them before they made a hasty exit. She turned to look at the Commander, no longer evidently upset over her, but hell bent on working out who was the cause to her pain.

"Don't do anything you will regret." She said pleading, it was not quite meant to come out that way but it got his attention nonetheless. He gave her a look; it told her that he had to get to the bottom of it. He was almost sorry, but he really wanted to make the bastards pay for it.

"You just rest up Wash, don't worry about me." He replied coolly before getting up, giving her hand a small squeeze and leaving her with only the machines to keep her company.

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><p><strong>P.S. If you thought I was going to kill her, please take a moment and understand I cried for an hour when she did "die" (She is not dead. End of story.) No way was I putting myself through that again. Or any of you!<strong>


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